Today I
have decided to engage you on something that crossed my mind when I was
watching the Wiper NDC. Well, leave that; I want us to talk about what ME and
YOU want for this beloved country called Kenya. Reality is stubborn, every day
we are faced with challenges, problems and difficulties and once in a while we
‘ask the government’ to do something! Sadly when we do it, at times the same “government asks the ‘government’ to do
something”. Have you seen ministers on TV asking the government to do
something? Your lawmaker told you that the government refused to do A or B yet
he sits in parliament? Who else is supposed to propagate our issues? So we turn
to social media and RANT all day! Trust me it helps get the pain out of the
chest but it never solves the matters in most cases! My marketing background
tells me companies should offer products that meet the customer’s needs, they
are supposed to proactively think ahead and innovate to solve problems as well
as anticipate those that may come in future and have viable business solutions
that will tackle such issues at a profit to ensure sustained growth.
Back to
politics, I guess it should be the same thing! What are these politicians
offering us? What can we do without them? What and where do we need their
assistance? Do they understand our problems? Can they foresee those coming our
way in future? Climate change? Rapid growth in urban centres? Congestion? Water
and sanitation problem? Education and illiteracy? Security and insecurity?
Implementation of constitution? Reforms? Corruption? Food security? Economy
& agriculture?
I think
they do since they have talked about it in rallies but we don’t listen as we
chant TNA, ODM and WIPER! (paid noise
& political chants) What they never tell us is the HOW they’ll do it
and how do we become part of it which is very critical. How do we get from
point A to B, so they tell us the youth need jobs….yes we really need them, but
how do we get them? Are the youth all educated and employable? Do they have the
skills that the industry needs? One thing with jobs and employment is there
will always be work for you if you are skilled so you need to search for them
in the right places. So don’t ask your governor to get you a job! You went to
school to be taught how to ‘fish’ so when you clear don’t ask for the
fish-----GO FISHING! However on matters education, we still have very many
uneducated kids and grownups in the country, kids without access to good and
affordable education in this country so we need some help here. Kibaki came in
with FPE but a few people took advantage of the funds to enrich themselves so
what we need now is a system that reduces pilferage of these resources. Well IT
systems cannot weed out corruption and that means we should ensure we elect
‘leaders of integrity’. Many times the auditor works with the accountant to
conceal something, same thing with police and Anti-Corruption Officials….we
also shield corrupt officials- worse still we are the people who BRIBE them. So
how do we ensure this reduces? Let us not celebrate or encourage our friends
and relatives who steal! I mean, these corrupt fellows are our dad’s, mothers,
sons and uncles. Somehow we don’t care about what they do and where they get
all the money from as long as they Mpesa you something on Friday for the
weekend. So YOU and ME can do something about this! Rather than pay bribes to
get a service done faster, insist on speedy service ‘at that office’. Don’t pay
to retrieve your file! If it’s lost, come back tomorrow and ask for it-they’ll
finally see it!
What about
food security and agriculture? We live in a world where a few people know so
much and the others are totally clueless.
How and why? We have hardworking researchers, government, private and non-governmental
organizations as well as individuals who have access to information that is
critical and very important but does it reach to farmers? NO! So we need a
system that ensures this information or data gets to its intended users in
formats and language that makes it easy to understand and consume. People or
firms who have data that if transmitted to entities that need it would make a
big difference in the society especially when it comes to agriculture!
On
food security, farmers in Africa sell when there’s surplus so we need a government that provides the
infrastructure to transport this produce, to store the surplus and we need
stronger cooperatives that put the farmer’s interests first! I have also taught
my dad some marketing skills on how to package his produce, where to sell and
share information I find useful on trends and such.
The county
government will ease up the congestion in the major cities, because resources
will now be in the mashinani so am hoping to see a “Rudi Ocha” campaign and tap
into the potential there! That’s somehow sorted so I hope.
Come to
security, here the big shots in Kenya fuel insecurity, hire goons and equip
them, give them booze and drugs to carry out attacks (to kill ourselves). But why do they keep coming back to the youth?
They know we are desperate, frustrated, uneducated, unskilled or semiskilled
and broke so we can do anything to make some money! That explains why Kibera
has never improved….someone knows if he/she solves the problems once and for
all he has nothing to come back and promise the people there! Now what if we decided
to kick them out with our votes? You see all those “Like Minded” stupid but
clever fellows who have been in power since the 80’s and have been
promising us roads, bridges, slum upgrading,
better education and agricultural inputs yet they have never
delivered……take them out! Can we? I hope so but I also don’t think most you
WILL.
The biggest issue we have in Kenya is not that we don’t know what we want
but we don’t believe our decision/contribution will change something! So we
choose to just bury our heads and assume things will change! We believe as long
as ‘our people’ are in power and heads in certain places then our issues are
being addressed! See all those scandals that have hit Kenya; we are the ones
that suffer…the kawaida taxpayer…the mwananchi! He or she will steal what is
rightfully yours and so rob your son’s future (education, health, roads etc)
We don’t
register as voters because we think one vote can shape the country! We also
don’t want to talk about our issues and put our leaders to task instead we line
up to see the mheshimiwa for some handouts, see him when we want to invite him
to a Harambee or when we need some bursary for our kids! Anyway we always
assume it’s all about one man for himself and GOD for us all!
Anyway I
don’t want to write much, I assume you pray to God and ask for something; your
needs aren’t similar to mine so all I want is from our politicians or the next
government is;
1. Good Security (Warlords and ICC
suspects cannot promise me THIS!)
2. A Youth Kitty that is well managed
to spur and inspire development of viable business ideas that our youth have.
We could also have government run youth empowerment centres that handle
trainings on entrepreneurship, business management and financial literacy.
3. Good infrastructure and a powerful
judiciary- that’s how we fight impunity in Kenya.
4. We are an agricultural economy, so I
need someone with a clear plan here! I need a country that can feed itself and afford-ably
.
I am okay
with these four things, and I will vote for the best candidates who can
articulate these issues. So maybe you need to also come up with your
needs/requirements and scan around. Be the interviewer….you are the hiring
manager….so what skills, level of experience, talents and objectives do you
want your leader to have? Forget about whether these people are your tribe’s
men and your people….GEMA or LUO…..Can you consult? NO! Make your personal
choice!
Over to you……what do you want…forget about what
Kenya needs…what DO YOU WANT and how can you make it happen? What will your
contribution be? How do you become part of the change you want to see? How will
you help? Take part…get involved….do something……DO SOMETHING…..fanya kitu!
Hence the
headline “What Do You Need as a Kenyan?
And as you
think about that remember to the KENYAN the country called KENYA needs!
Thanks
With lots
of love for Kenya.
(Signed)
Muthuri
Kinyamu
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